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What’s next for Surrey now that McCallum is mayor again?
McCallum’s coalition holds seven of eight council seats, but major promises depend on funding.
On Saturday night, Doug McCallum won his fifth term as Surrey’s mayor. Not only did he win, but his Safe Surrey Coalition swept up seven of the eight councillor seats — meaning that McCallum will likely have almost no opposition when trying to pass things in city hall.
So, what happens next?
While Surrey residents made it clear they preferred McCallum’s platform over the other six mayoral candidates running, it’s worth returning to the party’s platform and seeing how likely some of their promises actually are.
The coalition vowed to bring a SkyTrain to Newton and build a new general hospital along King George Boulevavd. However, both of these projects would be the final decision of the province. While city hall could advocate for it, there is no guarantee the province will allocate the funds for it — the province is also facing an unprecedented deficit.
But other commitments are within McCallum’s jurisdiction to implement, like his promise to freeze property taxes for the next four years and waive business license fees for the first two years of every new business.
Property taxes go to several authorities like the provincial government, Metro Vancouver Regional District, TransLink and police services. The city uses their cut of the taxes to fund services like the fire department, road safety, parks and recreational centres, libraries, garbage pick-up and more.
According to the city’s website, Surrey already has one of the lowest property rates in Metro Vancouver. With inflation increasing the cost of labour and goods, it’s unclear how McCallum plans to fund all the city’s current operations without cutting anything.
Many of McCallum’s other commitments also hinge on the question of funding. The party has promised an expansion of policing services and securing a helicopter and drone fleet within 90 days for the SPS.
Going forward, McCallum has also committed to having all residential building permits approved within 60 days. If city hall misses this deadline, all permit fees will be waived. Surrey currently has a glut of unsold condos and some have questioned whether more housing is even the answer to lowering prices.
When it comes to recreation services, McCallum wants to build new pools in Clayton Heights, City Centre and add a pool into the Newton Community Centre being built. Again, it’s unknown how city hall would fund such large capital projects with a freeze on property taxes.
The party also wants to conduct a forensic audit of city hall’s land deals and “root out waste.” Locke faced backlash during her June announcement of a new $360 million arena — many questioned how much tax payers would be funding. Locke had previously said there was no way to cancel the project, even if a new party was elected.
Another pressing issue in city hall has been Surrey’s fraught relationship with Metro Vancouver Regional District. The regional district oversees core services in the Lower Mainland like delivering clean drinking water, treating waste and monitoring air quality, among other things.
But, the district has also faced criticism for the rising cost of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, with the top administrator exiting the organisation in early September.
While McCallum wants Surrey to withdraw from the regional district — remaining connected for utilities like water, sewer and waste — it’s unknown if he has the jurisdiction to do so. Or if McCallum does remove Surrey, if the district will allow the city to leave while still benefiting from their services.
McCallum will be sworn in on Nov. 2 and the first council meeting of the newly elected officials will be on Nov. 9.
Copyright 2026, Surrey Citizen. All rights reserved.
Aisha Chaudhry, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Surrey Citizen.
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Une pluie d’étoiles filantes sera à son pic au Québec et ça s’annonce magique
Prépare-toi à faire BEAUCOUP de vœux cette semaine! 🤩💫
Lève les yeux, la comète de Halley t’a laissé un petit cadeau! Les Orionides, une des pluies d’étoiles filantes les plus attendues de l’automne, atteindront leur maximum cette semaine au Québec. Et pour une fois, la météo semble vouloir coopérer : un ciel dégagé est prévu dans plusieurs régions pour la nuit du pic.
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Les Orionides reviennent chaque année à la fin octobre, quand la Terre traverse le nuage de poussières laissé par la comète de Halley. Selon la NASA, ces débris pénètrent dans l’atmosphère à environ 66 kilomètres par seconde, soit près de 238 000 km/h, ce qui en fait des météores parmi les plus rapides de l’année. Leur vitesse leur permet aussi de laisser des traînées lumineuses qui peuvent durer de quelques secondes à quelques minutes.
Après des Perséides presque parfaites en août, les conditions seront un peu moins idéales cette fois-ci. La Lune sera presque pleine pendant le pic, quelques jours avant la pleine lune du 26 octobre, et sa lumière pourrait cacher les météores les plus pâles en début de nuit. Heureusement, il y a moyen de la déjouer.
Quand observer les Orionides en 2026?
La période d’activité s’étend du 2 octobre au 7 novembre, mais le maximum est attendu le mercredi 21 octobre, selon le Planétarium de Montréal. Pour mettre toutes les chances de ton côté, l’institution recommande : « Privilégiez son observation vers 5 h lorsque le radiant est le plus haut ». Autrement dit, c’est dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi que ça se passe.
C’est aussi à ce moment-là que la Lune dérange le moins, puisqu’elle se couche plusieurs heures avant l’aube. Dans un endroit bien noir, tu pourrais compter de 10 à 20 météores à l’heure au sommet de l’activité. Pas envie de te lever aux aurores? Pas besoin : le maximum des Orionides est assez étalé, donc les nuits avant et après le pic valent aussi le coup d’œil, et tu peux commencer à scruter le ciel dès la fin de soirée.
Pour profiter du spectacle, éloigne-toi le plus possible des lumières de la ville. Le télescope et les jumelles ne sont pas nécessaires : installe-toi simplement confortablement et balaie le ciel du regard, puisque les étoiles filantes peuvent apparaître n’importe où.
Quelle sera la météo pour observer les Orionides?
Les astres semblent alignés. Selon Environnement Canada, le ciel s’annonce dégagé à Montréal dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi, avec un minimum de 3 °C. À Québec, même scénario, mais plus frisquet : on attend un ciel dégagé et un minimum de 0 °C.
La tendance se maintiendrait la nuit suivante, avec un ciel dégagé et des minimums de 4 °C à Montréal et de -1 °C à Québec. Prépare ta tuque, tes mitaines et ta plus longue liste de vœux : tu ne manqueras pas d'occasions d'en faire. Comme les prévisions peuvent changer d’ici là, garde un œil sur celles de ta région avant de partir.
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Union calls out Carney government over cuts to translation bureau
Union condemns cuts to federal translation bureau
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A federal union is speaking out against cuts to the federal translation bureau and is accusing the Carney government of hypocrisy as Ottawa defends French language standards in trade talks with the U.S.
The translation bureau is a federal government service under Public Services and Procurement Canada that provides translation and interpretation services to departments and private clients.
A government document containing highlights of the translation bureau’s business plan for 2025 to 2030 says the bureau plans to drop 339 employees through natural attrition over five years to ensure its financial viability.
Attrition is the gradual reduction of positions through retirements and resignations.
The document says the plan reflects "an overall drop" in demand for traditional translation services.
It also says departments are turning to online translation services "via free internet tools" or are "investing on their own to deploy translation tools powered by artificial intelligence."
Mario Morneau, spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada, said in an email the plan is to accomplish the reduction through attrition and because it's based on client demand, the final number could vary.
"This attrition is expected to occur across a range of occupational groups, including translation, administrative and management positions," he said.
The Canadian Association of Professional Employees is condemning the plan and says the decision puts Canada’s official languages at risk.
The union said more than 90 per cent of translations in the federal government are from English to French and that when the quality of translation declines, it is francophones who feel the impact.
"The result is a two-tier system by degrading the language services francophones depend on to access public services and Canada’s democratic institutions in their own language," said the union.
After several weeks of intense negotiations, Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended trade talks with the U.S. on Aug. 21 and summoned Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and the rest of the negotiating team back to Canada.
In a media conference, Carney accused U.S. negotiators of trying to limit Canada's ability to negotiate other trade deals, restrict its protections for language and culture and reduce tariffs for cars but not trucks.
Carney cited both the visibility of Canadian content on streaming services and French-language product labelling when he described the collapse of the trade talks. Four days later, a government official, who refused to be quoted on the record, told The Canadian Press that French labels were never part of the conversation.
LeBlanc then told Radio-Canada that while the U.S. had identified French-language labels as a trade irritant in the past, the issue on the table just before the trade talks ended was online discoverability.
Those rules, which are currently under development at the CRTC, would ensure Canadian and French-language content is available and visible on online streaming platforms.
U.S. representatives have maintained they don't have an issue with French language protections.
Bloc Québécois MP Yves Perron said in the House of Commons last month that "we cannot use French as a shield against Donald Trump and then turn around and regard it as an unnecessary expense that needs to be cut."
"While being a useful tool, artificial intelligence can never replace human judgment and a nuanced understanding of human language," he said. "We will not attract the next generation of talent by allowing people's working conditions to deteriorate. A strong internal capacity within the public service is essential to preserving French."
Kelly Burke, Canada's official languages commissioner, said in a statement that the government must ensure the substantive equality of Canada's two official languages in federal services and communications.
"This means, among other things, that translation and interpretation services must meet the highest standards of quality in order to respect the language rights of all Canadians," said Burke.
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages’ 2025-2026 annual report said federal institutions must ensure that their language obligations and their employees’ language rights are respected and taken into account during any budget reduction exercises.
"I will continue to monitor this situation closely," said Burke.
Burke added that while artificial intelligence can be useful for translation and interpretation when deployed properly, a qualified professional needs to be involved to avoid errors.
Morneau said the translation bureau will adjust its plans if demand for translation services increases.
"The Bureau remains fully committed to providing quality linguistic services in both official languages, tailored to the needs of our clients, budgetary realities and the expectations of Canadians," he said. "It will maintain the in-house capacity required to fulfil the demand for high-quality translations while continuing to draw on the expertise of Canada's language industry when needed."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
-With files from Anja Karadeglija
By Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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A Toronto Student Was Charged For Making Racist Comments During An Online Class
One online class had a turn for the worse. A Markham high school student has just been charged after making hateful comments during a virtual learning session.
According to police, the 18-year-old reportedly made multiple "anti-Black comments" during the lesson.
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During the video lesson, an unknown student made several anti-Black comments.
York Regional Police
The incident, which took place on April 15, 2020, got so out of hand that the instructor was forced to stop the class.
"York Regional Police does not tolerate hate crime in any form," stated police.
Tristan Stronach now faces one count of indecent communication.
Anyone with information on the case is being asked to contact the York Regional Police.